What the eye see's, What the heart feels
by Unity
Summary: Haunted by strange dreams and visions Dr.Viper ponders thier meaning, unknowing that he is about to become part of an age old war to determine the fate of all Kat kind.
1. Dreams

1  
  
2 What the eye sees, what the heart feels  
  
By Unity  
  
Disclaimer: Dr.Viper is property of Hanna-Barbera, All other characters; Unity, Kanoki, Tatavi and Carobus are property of me.  
  
Chapter One- Endless Night  
  
The moon hung low in the cloudless sky, like a giant beacon of natural, never-ending light. Some way beneath the bright star lay two more tiny lights, smaller but just as greatly shimmering as the moon. A pair that sat always beside each other, that burned and shone with their own seashell light even in the deepest midnight. Attracting the many hundreds of fireflies that dwelled in the depths of the eerie swamp. They danced two by two in the shining glow of the bright pair and quickly fled to the heights as Viper tossed his head upwards in one quick motion. And then stood still again.  
  
Transfixed upon the hanging moon, his hands clutching the windowsill, claws raked against dry wood with snaps like a match being struck. Aside from the occasional twitch of his ears, or rocks off his head to rid himself of the pestering bugs he stood firmly still by the window. The moon held a special place for him, even though he did not know why. It has appeared so many times in his dreams…the same dream. More then once he had awoke far into the night, his fur matted with a cold sweat and his heart pounding within his chest. The dream always ended the same…always with the moon...the image sank deep into Viper's mind as he stared longingly up at the sky, seeing only the bright circle hanging there wishing it to tell him it's secret, willing it to tell him the underlying notions of his dreams. He stood. And waited…but no answer came. It meary stared straight back to him, the answers remaining secret and unknown.  
  
Viper gave the moon a disappointed look before turning on his heel and wandering back to his bed, made of various mosses and soft plants. Settling himself down for the third time that night, hugging his long, serpentine tail to his chest as if it were a treasured companion, he gazed still at the moon before him and sighed. "I'll find out..Jusssst you wait and sssee."  
  
Chapter Two- Callings of Dreams  
  
"Thick…Black….my feet..can't..Can't move". Something tugged at Viper's legs, invisible hands pulling him downwards into warm, inky blackness. A growl in the tree's, a roar, footsteps thumping against slick, black wood and mud rang like angry voices inside his head. Something just in front, a branch, something. Viper swung his arm in frantic panic, his fingertips only brushing the rough bark. Again and the roar that shock the tree's seemed ever closer, the warm, sticky black eating it's way past his waist, his hand grasped the branch tightly in a shaking hand. Pulling, down, he clung to the branch, his only life line as he felt warmth against his chest and kicked his legs but they didn't responded to his wishes. Footsteps, loud, clear. A gruff breathing from behind him that made his skin crawl as he dared a glance over his shoulder. Eyes, red, deadly. He cried out in terror, claws ripping panicked chunks of dead wood as the life giver slipped from his hands.  
  
The eyes drew closer; he could almost feel the hot stinking breath against his neck as he fell into blackness, his own pleading eyes begging towards the sky to save him. The moon. A shinning orb in the storm brewing sky. A light, brighter then the moon itself stood before its underling. Something that sparkled even in the depths of this miserable fortune. A figure. Wings. Wings like an angel. An invisible face smiled at him and offered him one, golden fur covered hand.  
  
"WAIT!!" Viper cried as he leapt upwards with a start and quickly scanned the room for the figure with the white wings. "….Wait." he whispered as his legs refused to stand his weight any longer and he collapsed onto the hard, wooden floor.  
  
Viper squinted his tired eyes in the early morning light, the rays of light stinging his eyes and revealing the true extent of the nights' unconscious torture. He immediately noticed the pain in his side and left shoulder where he had fallen and squeezed the neck of his coat in one trembling hand to relieve some of his dire distress. He never new how long he had lain there. He simply stayed, stretched out on the foot of his bed contemplating his dreams and listening to the blood pounding heavily in his ears, and it wasn't the first time, and certainly not the last.  
  
After several long moments of intense thought Viper realised yet another pain, this time in his stomach. But he was used to this pain, it hadn't ended since he first lived in his beloved swamp. Never being able to get enough food for himself he simply lived off the small scraps the citizens of the city left behind in the midst of their everyday lives. Hunger had become like a dull ache in the back of his mind, like when worrying about an unaccomplished task to be done. His eyelids fluttered for a moment. Deciding it best to leave his now long and winding trail of thoughts for later he pushed himself up onto his feet and sought about tending to his more pressing needs. Stuffing his hands into his coat pockets Viper shot a quick glance out the window before beginning the long trek into MegaKat City. In the sky he imagined he saw her. The girl with the angel wings.  
  
Chapter Three- Wonderings and Realisations  
  
Small twigs and leaves crunched and cracked as Viper wormed his way through the dense undergrowth of the swamp. The swamp looked the same throughout the year, all the time painted in shades of burnt umber and mossy greens. The world outside the swamp was a complete contrast however, and no matter how many times Viper ventured into the city he never got tired of seeing how the seasons stained the landscape in their own special color. Somehow the mood of the city made him feel different, as if he both belonged there and at the same time had no business there. But today was different and he felt no more unwelcome in the city as he did in his own swampland home.  
  
His mind was elsewhere, and it usually was. He couldn't help but let the image of that dark, desolate place in his dreams overcome his thoughts. It seemed so much like his own swamp but he knew better. Viper new his swamp too well, as though his life depended on knowing every fine detail of it's being, and perhaps in many ways it did. He knew it by sight, by scent and by thought. Every inch of it, every detail was deep seated in his mind. He knew every secret there was to know, all the different ways of getting into and out of the city without being seen. He knew the land well from almost ten miles around, but that was the limit to his geography. He kept true to his illusive reputation. He was no more then a shadow among the normal kats, something that lingered in the background. The swamp was all that he knew now, an outcast of society. That was his punishment…his doom.  
  
Even though the city was still a good mile away Viper could already hear the roar of cars and the bustling sounds of the citizens going about their daily lives. And perhaps if his mind had not been so troubled by the pondering of his dreams he might have been more aware of the doom stalking him from nearby. 


	2. Awakening

The Beast  
  
Unaware of anything unusual, Viper halted just as the trees around him began to transfigure into buildings and the soft leaf-littered ground beneath his feet became hard and unfriendly. He paused there. Taking a last full breath of the swampland air and held it in his mouth as if it were something humbly precious. He was about to step out of the swamp and skitter quickly into a nearby alley, he'd done the route many times before of course but as he readied himself to bolt his blood suddenly ran cold and was as ice and the pit of his stomach churned uncomfortably. The sickly feeling one gets when they realise they're being watched.  
  
Viper stood very still in that moment, his ears twitching every which way straining to hear the faintest of sounds. All was quiet. The soft rustle of leaves in the treetops as the wind picked up and died again were the only sounds anywhere near him. The noisy rumble of a passing car. Viper sighed, his eyes half closing and crouched beneath a row of shrubs. Rocking his head steadily from side to side be peered through the curtain of leaves and twigs onto the road through his hooded eyes. He was distracted, still unable to shake the unwelcome feeling that he was not alone and as the steady sound of his own breathing was abruptly interrupted by a sickly `plop' his nerves became more and more wracked. Vipers eyes shifted to his left, where a thick looking, clear liquid was oozing in large quantities along the leaves and dropping onto the ground below forming puddles that stretched out in all directions. If he hadn't been so unnerved Viper would have obeyed his first impulse and  
carried on, seeing it only as tree sap.  
  
Something was not right; the moments began to crawl over him like the sticky looking substance before him. Vipers hands clenched, his claws scraped the ground as he tilted his head upwards. His gaze was met not by an image but a fierce sound like cracking wood that filled the trees and they cried out in pain. The noise was deafening, like a thousand insects all calling at once. Viper clasped his hands over his ears, his eyes tightly shut, the sound made his head tingle painfully and he crushed himself to the ground, desperate to escape the maddening chattering all around him that poisoned the air.  
  
Just as Viper thought his head would surely explode from the noise it stopped. Silence sang in the air. Opening his eyes Viper let his hands drop nervously to the ground, he hardly noticed he was trembling. His eyes darted in every direction, each time expecting to see some kind of answer. What was it? Where did it go? Just as those thoughts ran rampant through his mind Viper wished that he had not been answered. Up above him, through the dense mesh of leaves stood two, bright yellow orbs, eyes. They stared, unshifting and unblinking down at Viper. Beneath them, gruesome lips curled and twisted revealing saliva stained teeth like daggers before him. Then the beast came.  
  
Dance with the Devil  
  
Vipers eyes half turned the size of those he now feared. His arms and legs flailed wildly in a desperate attempt to put space enough between himself and the creature now advancing on him. It slid down the trunk of the large tree like a shadow, swift and formidable. No longer able to keep a firm hold on his wits Viper fumbled behind him for something, anything to defend himself. The beast leapt the further four or so feet to the ground in front of Viper where it rose to its full height. It's think shadow swallowed Vipers tiny figure, great eyes piercing into Vipers terrified expression as it lifted it's arms. Each arm was thick and grossly green, and ended in a long scythe shaped appendage, which in turn were dotted with tiny barb like projections like thorns.  
  
The creature was as large as a grown male kat and larger still, its head was like that of a mantis and on it it's mandibles dripped with yellow tinted saliva. Two antennae rose a foot and a half at least from his grotesque head and twisted in the breeze. It's skin looked tough and hardened like tenfold shields and the color of dead leaves and decay spread over it's whole body. As it stepped closer, leaning downwards toward Viper it regarded him with its enormous eyes in what almost seemed like pity.  
  
The terrible stench filled Vipers senses and he recoiled in disgust, the scent of rotting flesh emitted from the creature and crashed over Viper like waves. As it took another giant step towards him Viper backed himself against a fallen, festering tree. His throat and mouth felt dry and cracked like unwatered earth as the creature tilted its abominable head to him. The gaze which once held arguable pity now swept into mild disapproval and finally into deepening dislike.  
  
Before Viper could so much as offer a word of discontent there was a great flash of green, followed by a wash of thick crimson. Viper at first only heard the sound of tearing cloth at his shoulder before singeing pain nailed through him like wild fire and he cried out in agony. His hand gripped the bleeding flesh of his shoulder, blood flowed in rapid streams down his arm and pooled beneath his quivering hand. Pain stung Vipers eyes as he clutched his shoulder, growling in pain through clenched teeth. Turning his head to the wound he saw a small flash of white under the torn flesh and his eyes rolled in torment.  
  
One brutal scythe now dripping with smooth crimson the beast twisted its head and bellowed in what could only be described as a deep, remorseless laugh. Viper could only cower where he had fallen as the beast drew a deep, satisfied breath, its eyes falling again upon the helpless life at its feet. Its lips curled in a malevolent smile. "Disgusting little creature!" it bellowed in a rasping voice that made Viper feel smaller then he'd ever felt, and more helpless then he'd ever been. Its mouth opened wide and it raised its bloodstained scythe high above its head. "I shall be the death of you and the rest of your pitiful kind!" the beast spat hatefully at Viper. Viper closed his eyes tight; the creatures voice rang in his mind like a distasteful lyric bathed in bloodlust. He felt the heaviness in his left arm again and awaited death with a closed mind to the world. He had been through this before of course. Viper knew all too well what it like to die, to cease. There were no  
hours, days, years or any such thing. It was like some great force had crushed the hands of time into submission and they stood lifeless, the wheels of time frozen in the place no one knew but him. 


End file.
